Annuities - turning your pension savings into an income for life

A little extra in the bank from us to help you kick start retirement in style

We share 50% of initial commission from annuities. Commission is usually 1% of the fund used to purchase an annuity, and we will pay your share directly into your CommShare Cash Account. If you are happy to take control of your own retirement plans, setting up your annuity with us could see you starting retirement with a little extra in the bank.

We can arrange cashback regardless of whether you decide to use your pension fund to purchase an open market option annuity from another provider or decide to take up the annuity offered by your existing pension provider.

What else can we do for you?

And we don’t just offer cashback. We will help you to source rates, complete forms, submit applications and chase transfer payments, where necessary.

Our service to you

We are happy to obtain annuity quotes on your behalf. This is a useful and easy way to see if the income offered by your existing pension provider is competitive. You just need to complete an Annuity Quotation Form and we will send you a summary based on your requirements.

Or why not use the customer annuity quote system on our website? This new tool will allow you to see what income you could get from the comfort of your own home.

If you are a smoker, overweight or suffer from a health problem you could be entitled to a much higher income. You will need to provide additional details about yourself (and possibly your spouse) on a health questionnaire which will then be sent to specialist underwriting teams at all of the major enhanced and impaired life annuity providers. You will only need to complete one questionnaire, which we can email or post to you. You can contact us at any stage if you need any guidance.

When you have made your decision as to which annuity you wish to buy call us and we will be happy to prepare the required paperwork for you.

Lifetime Annuities

Perhaps you have already decided that you wish to use your pension fund(s) to purchase a lifetime annuity for certainty of income or perhaps you are still considering your options.

The Pensions Advisory Service is an independent voluntary organisation that is grant-aided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and they offer lots of useful information about all things pensions and annuities on their website http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/.

They even have an annuity planner which will help you to understand your options at retirement and decide what to do next. Just click here and then select the "Annuity Planner".

What is a lifetime annuity?

An annuity is simply a way of buying an income for life using your existing money purchase pension fund(s). An annuity can be arranged in a number of different ways and you can usually choose between the following options:

Income payment frequency – usually monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually.

Whether the income stays the same throughout your lifetime or increases each year.

A guarantee – so that payments are made for a minimum period of time, such as five or ten years, even if you die within that period.

Whether the income ceases on your death or continues to a spouse, civil-partner or dependant.

How much will I get?

The value of the annuity is dependent on two factors - the size of the pot and the annuity rate offered by the insurance company selling the annuity. The annuity rate is basically the factor used to convert the accumulated fund into an income for life. This works as follows:

Value of fund x Annuity rate = Annuity

Annuity rates are calculated by actuaries using a number of factors - mortality, interest rates, age, gender and sometimes health. In general terms, the older a person is then the higher the annuity rate because future life expectancy is less.

It’s a good idea to compare the annuity rate available from your existing pension provider to those available from the open market to ensure that you receive a competitive rate. You are able to find the income offered by your existing pension provider on your annual projection of benefits statement and /or on the retirement illustration that is provided shortly before your chosen retirement age.

These usually show annual or monthly income based on the full tax free cash being taken and no tax free cash being taken. You should make sure that you have taken into account whether or not you will be taking your entitlement to tax free cash before looking at rates from the open market to ensure that you are comparing like with like.

Remember that the income paid to you by an annuity is taxable. Any income tax due will depend on your individual circumstances.

CommShare doesn't give investment advice. If you're unsure about suitability,
you should seek professional advice. Past performance of an investment is
not a guide to future performance. The value of investments or income from
them can go down as well as up. You might not get back the amount you invest.
Current tax levels and reliefs will depend on your individual circumstances.